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GOP faces fight for Fossella's seat

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The GOP faces a tough fight for the seat of retiring Rep. Vito Fossella, currently the only House Republican representing New York City.
AP Photo

If the early developments in the race to succeed scandal-tarred Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) offer any indication, Republicans will face some serious difficulties in holding a Staten Island-area seat that has been in GOP hands for the past 28 years.

After failing to land several leading recruits, the party is now left with retired Wall Street executive and Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Frank Powers as the party’s likely nominee. A first-time candidate, he won the Staten Island GOP endorsement at the convention after not even being considered as a potential candidate during the recruiting process.

He became the consensus choice after three other leading elected officials from the district turned down a prime opportunity to be the party’s nominee.

“That was a total surprise. I talked to a number of people earlier in the day, and his name never came up once with all the conversations we had,” said former congressman and former Staten Island borough chief Guy Molinari. “A lot of us were stunned when we heard his name. He was not a candidate at the time.”

Powers’ primary background is in the financial sector. He served as Fossella’s former finance director and has donated thousands of dollars to New York political candidates. While the vast majority of his political donations have been to New York Republicans, Powers donated $1,000 to New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer’s reelection campaign in 2003 — a donation that’s sure to draw some skepticism from conservatives.

Indeed, one complicating factor for Powers is the role of the state’s Conservative Party, which has hinted that it could support the likely Democratic nominee, City Councilman Mike McMahon, for the general election. Brooklyn Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar, who recently met with McMahon, said he would give serious consideration to endorsing the councilman, calling him a “moderate to conservative Democrat.”

“McMahon is in the mix this year as a popular Democrat that I would seriously consider supporting,” Kassar said. “He’s not as conservative as Powers, but he definitely appeals to us on some of the issues. He appeals to us on his opposition to gay marriage, and he told us he continues to support U.S. action in Iraq.”

The Republicans’ initial favorite candidate was Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who was heavily recruited by both national and local Republican officials. After he declined, several other elected officials from the area also demurred, leaving the party with few options.

As the list of credible candidates dwindled, Powers emerged as the top choice largely because of his ability to self-finance a campaign. Powers has said he would be willing to spend at least $500,000 of his own money on the campaign and has told party leadership that he would be able to quickly raise another $500,000 from his Wall Street connections.

“If you don’t have the experience, you can buy experience,” said Molinari. “You can put together a heck of a team with money.”

The problems for Staten Island Republicans are similar to the ones the party has faced throughout the country: a scandal-tinged Republican hurting the party’s standing in his district, a series of recruitment failures and a dependence on a self-funded candidate with minimal political experience of his own.

Democrats, meanwhile, experienced a change in fortune after Fossella’s drunken-driving charge and subsequent admission that he fathered a daughter out of wedlock. The party initially viewed the seat as a possible pickup but lacked top-tier potential candidates.